I appear to have successfully installed Movable Type. It really took a lot of patience. The thing that really bothers me is that my particular server does not appear to allow site administrators to upload folders, only files. Even by ftp. I tried. So I had to manually create each and every folder and directory needed by Movable Type. Then I kept getting all these errors because of case-sensitivity issues. Note I typed in the name of each folder and directory EXACTLY as it appeared in the files I downloaded to my computer. I was very careful to do this. I found the fact that the files were misnamed by Movable Type very irritating and frustrating. The directions were also not very specific. I was putting files in the wrong directory, because the instructions seemed to indicate that only .cgi files went into the cgi-bin. I understand why the files all need to be in the cgi-bin in order to work, but I think the instructions could have been clearer on that point. I am seeing lots of questions on their forums regarding installation errors, and I feel that giving clearer instructions could eliminate the bulk of the problems.

In other news, I hadn’t heard anything from the schools I had interviewed with, so I bit the bullet and e-mailed my contacts. I was thrilled to receive this e-mail:

I, too, enjoyed our conversation at the job fair. I am waiting for the signal from my principal regarding the scheduling of the next round of interviews. At this point, my principal is working on filling positions in another department and he is not ready to move in the direction of language arts. I hope to be in touch in the next few weeks. Thank you for so graciously sharing the product of your research and curriculum design efforts! I will treasure the Beowulf unit plan! It is most impressive. In a conversation with my principal later that afternoon, he indicated that he was also impressed!

That lifted my spirits a bit! I had e-mailed her a link to the Beowulf Teacher’s Guide I wrote, and that is what she was referring to. I needed that little pick-me-up. I had an OCD morning. I couldn’t find anything I was looking for.